Thursday 9 August 2012

Buddhism vs Christianity


There are some so-called Christians who claim that Buddhism is a false religion and Christianity is the only religion that has ever existed. I don’t understand how people can be so narrow-minded. Therefore, I believe orthodox Christianity is the worst religion that has ever infected the world. I know not all Christians are like this, but most are. They are intolerant towards other religions, and believe the whole Bible to be literally true, though it is full of self-contradictions and inconsistencies. 

Christians describe their God as loving and compassionate and they say that Jesus was perfect. But, that is incorrect. There were very few men in history who were perfect, and it was Lord Buddha who was one of them, not Jesus.
First, let’s make a comparison between Buddha and the Christian God.

Anger management problems

The Christian God, as described in the Bible is very short-tempered and can’t control his anger. Take a look at the passage below for one of the hundreds of examples:

Isaiah 30: 30: The Lord will let everyone hear his majestic voice and feel the force of his anger.

Just imagine how short-tempered he must be to let everyone feel his anger just because a few were supposedly disobedient. 

Lord Buddha was always calm and patient. He was never angry. Not even when others tried to provoke him. Lord Buddha, unlike the Christian God, even treated his enemies with respect. 

Poor sense of justice
The Christian God seems to have a poor sense of justice. No one got the punishment he/she deserved. People, who deserved to be punished, were not. And people, who didn’t deserve to be, were. 

Instead of showing pity, the Christian God commands people to stone a rape victim to death along with the rapist, if she didn’t scream, while she was being raped. See Deuteronomy 22: 23- 24.

Now, as for rapists, instead of getting punishment, get to marry their rape victims. See Deuteronomy 22: 28- 29. This law was invented probably to make it easier for young ruffians to grab wives at an early age. If they liked a girl, all the needed to do was to rape her, and she was all theirs.

But, the Buddha had a strong sense of justice, but still, he didn’t judge criminals. He forgave criminals and did his best to bring them into the right path. Plus, no matter what the crime is, stoning someone to death is something the Buddha would never have approved.

Love
Many orthodox Christians claim that if you don’t believe in Jesus, you are going to hell. Is this the sign of a loving and compassionate God? No matter what the crime is, no one deserves hell for eternity. The idea is too disgusting. How can a god who is supposedly compassionate let a righteous person burn in hell for not believing in, or not hearing about Jesus? 

Unlike the Christian God, the Buddha showed unconditional love, not only to his followers, but also his enemies. He reformed his enemies with love and taught them the way of the truth.

Blood Sacrifices

Many parts of the Bible say that the Christian God loves animal sacrifices. In some passages he is also shown to approve human sacrifice. It is a sign of a malevolent god. Some prophets like Isaiah spoke against animal sacrifice. But, orthodox Christians ignore such passages and continue saying that the Christian God loved blood sacrifices and that his thirst for blood was appeased by Jesus who offered his own blood. Such a god would be a monster. Therefore, I believe that such a god doesn’t exist. 

Lord Buddha taught people to have love for all creatures. He rejected animal sacrifices. 

Conclusion

I don’t think I need to compare Jesus with Buddha, now. Of course, Jesus was a great man, but he can’t be equal to Buddha, because even he got angry many times in the Bible, and even scolded his followers multiple times.
Anyone capable of logical reasoning can now understand who is better: Yahweh, or Lord Buddha. I also sometimes wonder why people worship a god who is infected with the very mental diseases (like anger and jealousy) which we are trying to overcome. I personally don’t believe in such a Yahweh’s existence. I believe that there is only one God, who is “truly” loving and compassionate towards all creatures, and orthodox Christians should worship Him instead.

Blessed are the merciful.